Nepal has been struck by its worst earthquake in 80 years.
The human death toll is high as will be the animal death toll. The Animal
Liberation Sanctuary, Kopan is in the zone of the quake. Our staff have been
checking the animals to see if they are ok. Our friend Tree of Compassion is
leading a disaster relief team on the ground in Kathmandu led by Phil Hunt, Tree
of Compassion secretary and Animal Liberation Sanctuary Coordinator. Our first
task is to assess and reassure our animals at the sanctuary, the cows in
particular who are more easily frightened, followed by checking the safety of
the shelters and the security of the fences. Our goats and resident dogs are
quite adept at escaping should the opportunity arise.

There is currently no electricity or internet at Kopan and
phone connection is quite difficult. We will be posting updates as they are
available on our Facebook page (both Tree of Compassion and Enlightenment for
the Dear Animals). Then we will be conducting outreach for the community with a
focus on animals in need but also helping people. In a disaster of this
magnitude, we anticipate animals will have a range of needs such as emergency
veterinary care, emergency feed, shelter and so on.

As Buddhists, we will also be saying mantras to all the
animals we come across and ‘bopping’ them with a small statue given to us by
Lama Zopa Rinpoche for that purpose. We ask you to join us in saying prayers for
all those sentient beings affected, human and animal alike.